Greenbrae shooting suspect convicted in attack on 90-year-old man

A Petaluma man charged with shooting a 90-year-old Greenbrae resident in the face after breaking into his home was convicted on all counts Wednesday after just a few hours of jury deliberations.

Samuel Joseph Cutrufelli, 31, faces a potential life prison term when he is sentenced by Judge Andrew Sweet. The sentencing date has not been set.

Cutrufelli, who grew up in Novato, displayed no emotion as the verdicts were read by the court clerk. He rarely looked at the jurors and often kept his eyes down, sometimes fiddling with his necktie.

The trial prosecutor, Deputy District Attorney Dorothy Chou Proudfoot, said she had confidence that the jurors would reach "the right decision."

"I appreciated their level of attention to everything that was going on in the court," she said.

Shooting victim Jay Leone, reached at home Wednesday, said Cutrufelli picked "the wrong guy" to target.

"He shouldn't be going around trying to hurt people," said Leone, a World War II veteran who turns 91 in December. "I'm happy it's over with and I'll get on with my life. I'm just glad he'll be put away so he won't hurt anybody else."

The jury reached verdicts on seven felony counts and numerous related allegations after just a few hours of deliberation Tuesday afternoon and about two hours on Wednesday morning. One juror, a Marinwood nurse who declined to be named, said the jurors "were pretty much on the same page" during the deliberations.

"I just think you have to have natural consequences for your actions," the juror said.

The crime occurred at about 10:45 a.m. Jan. 3 at Leone's home on Via La Cumbre. Authorities said Cutrufelli, a methamphetamine user with an assault record, broke into Leone's home, put a gun to his head, tied his wrists and rummaged through the bedroom for valuables.

Leone, a gun collector, testified that he wriggled his hands free, convinced the burglar to let him use the bathroom, and retrieved one of his guns from the bathroom. In the ensuing gunfight, Leone was shot once in the face and Cutrufelli was shot four times in the body.

Leone testified during the trial that Cutrufelli shot first, after which he told Cutrufelli: "F—- you, you son of a bitch, now it's my turn."

Cutrufelli's lawyer, Sanford Troy, argued that his client was not burglarizing Leone's home but went there to buy drugs from one of his two women tenants.

Troy attempted to portray Leone as a vainglorious vigilante who was jealous that a young man was visiting one of the women in his home. Troy claimed Leone shot Cutrufelli in the back as he was trying to flee, tampered with the evidence and then fabricated the tale about the burglary.

The jury found Cutrufelli guilty of robbery, burglary, assault with a semiautomatic firearm, illegal possession of a firearm, possession of stolen property and two counts of attempted murder. One attempted murder count was for the gunshot to Leone's face; the other was for grabbing Leone's gun, holding it to his head and pulling the trigger, only to find out the gun had no more bullets left.

"The jury decided what happened," Troy said after the verdict. "They heard the evidence and made a decision."

The jury was not privy to the details of Cutrufelli's prior prison record. He served a six-year prison term for an incident in 2001, when he attacked a Novato pedestrian who complained about nearly being hit in a crosswalk. Authorities said Cutrufelli, who had been drinking at a downtown bar, got out of the car, smashed a bottle over the 22-year-old victim's head, and used a folding knife to stab him four times and cut tendons in his right hand.

Cutrufelli has filed a personal injury lawsuit against Leone, but his lawyer said previously that the lawsuit might be withdrawn if Cutrufelli was convicted of all charges in the criminal case.